And there it was—the last loophole closed, the last ‘i’ dotted and the last ‘t’ crossed. In exchange for our blood, the demons wouldn’t hound Guthrie, and they wouldn’t force the tithelings into vampirism or soul-bonds without their consent. We’d just done our very own deal with the devil... or rather, the devils... and I wasn’t at all sure how to feel about it.
I glanced at Rans, just to check in with him. He gave a small nod.
“We agree,” I told the assembled ruling bodies of the demons and the tithelings.
Nigellus nodded as well, and rose. “Very well. In that case, please come with me, and we’ll seal the contract with a modest donation of blood from each of you. As it is, Hell’s store of blood wine is nearly running dry.”
EPILOGUE
IF I’D EVER wondered how Nigellus had managed to drain Rans for so long without anyone being the wiser, I had my answer half an hour later. I sat in a small room at the back of the meeting hall with Rans, while Edward, Fatima, and Li Wei looked on. Nigellus stood next to the end of the rectangular table where the five of us were seated, his attention fixed firmly on a pair of crystal decanters.
As I watched, garnet liquid appeared in each container, the level rising up from the bottom an inch at a time until they were both roughly two-thirds full. As the liquid welled up inside the sparkling vessels, a faint sense of weakness washed over me.
“How are you doing that?” I asked, a bit woozily.
Nigellus looked at me with hooded eyes. “The same way I would call your spilled blood back to your body should you ever become critically injured. The same way I recalled Edward’s corporeal form to a living state when he was foolish enough to step in front of Myrial and get himself torn apart.”
Edward shot him a tolerant look. “If you didn’t want me stepping between Myrial and an innocent, sir, you should have told me so ahead of time.”
In the end, Edward’s sacrifice hadn’t been enough to save my father from the supernatural power struggle in which we’d become embroiled. I closed my eyes, but the wave of grief over his loss wasn’t quite as strong this time. Cool fingers twined with mine, and I opened them to meet Rans’ cerulean gaze.
“I’m all right,” I said. “Just a little woozy.”
“That will be quite sufficient for the time being,” Nigellus said, capping the decanters.
Rans didn’t look nearly as bad as he had on the other two occasions when I’d seen him immediately after Nigellus had drained him. I gathered that meant the demon was taking roughly the same amount of blood as before, but splitting it between the two of us—rather than draining us of every possible drop to double his supply.
That was... nice of him, I supposed.
Li Wei spoke, looking between the two of us. “Do I understand correctly that you will need to drink the blood of humans to replenish what we have just taken from you?”
“That’s correct,” Rans said evenly.
Li Wei gave a small, decisive nod. “Then allow me to offer mine, as recompense. It seems only fair, under the circumstances.”
“Yes,” Fatima agreed, “I concur. I offer mine as well, assuming I have your assurance that neither of us will be seriously debilitated by the process.”
“Oh, you’ll be fine,” Edward assured them. “I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve played donor over the centuries. It’s a surprisingly painless process, really.”
Nigellus eyed us. “In that case, I will leave you to your feeding. Ransley... Zorah... I assume you will both wish to leave afterward?”
Edward frowned. “Regarding your return to Earth, there is, of course, still the threat of the Fae weapon to consider. Will the Fae decide that the existence of additional vampires voids the clause relating to Ransley’s survival?”
Rans settled a hard look on Nigellus. “What do you say, Nigellus? You’re banking everything on the ability of individuals with exposure to Fae magic being immune to the weapon. Zorah wouldn’t exist at all without her little slice of Dhuinne’s power—a legacy from her father.”
“She also shares a life-bond with you, though,” Edward pointed out. “And you have no such immunity.”
“No,” Rans agreed, never breaking eye contact with Nigellus. “I don’t. Instead, I have a demon-bond. I would assume that the individual holding the other end of that leash will continue to act in a way that ensures the survival of his two vampire blood sources.”
“Have I given you cause to think otherwise?” Nigellus asked in a deceptively mild tone.
Rans made a disgruntled noise and looked away.
“There is still Mr. Leonides to consider,” Edward said quietly.
I rubbed the corners of my eyes—a weary movement. “If you think Guthrie will come to Hell voluntarily, you don’t know him at all.” I took a deep breath. “The way I see it is this. Myrial could have reaped Guthrie to strengthen herself when she and Nigellus were fighting. She didn’t, because she’s playing a long game. So long, in fact, that if it takes her centuries to pull herself together so she can continue to pursue it, she doesn’t seem all that bothered.”
“Myrial’s decision does not seem particularly relevant to the Fae situation,” Nigellus said.
“Doesn’t it?” I shot back. “The Fae are long-lived, too. I’m betting they’ll be more interested in finding out why there are three vampires now, rather than in simply killing us and risking war again. I mean—you basically said it before. Why do that, when they pretty much have everything they want right now? Especially with Caspian dead, and no longer around to rattle his saber in front of the Court.”
“Hmm. Let us hope for Mr. Leonides’ sake that you are correct about that,” Nigellus replied. “At any rate, as I said before, I presume you will wish to leave after feeding. Meet me at the gate
